The New Roommate
by Miyiku
Summary: For the last year Yuuri had been living alone in his room in Detroit. He likes it that way, he's not very outgoing and has no friends but at least he has a quiet place to sleep and relax after school and skate training. But... How the notice of a new roommate is going to affect him?


**A/N:** This was done for Magical-Mistral (tumblr: magical-mistral) as a "Thank you" gift for a wonderful fanart. If you have chance, go visit their tumblr! English is not my 1st language and I have no beta, so please if you see any mistake feel free to pointing it out. This is set a year and a half after Yuuri moved to USA, so he's like 19 and Phichit is 16.

* * *

How was he supposed to welcome a new roommate? Yuuri chewed his lip, playing absentmindedly with the letter he got from the Dept. of Mobility of his school. Next week he was going to have a new international student in his room. And on top of that, his new roommate was supposed to be a figure skater too.

He had been lucky and when he started his training in Detroit a year ago he was assigned a room all for himself. And he was glad to have that much space for him and his Victor Nikiforov posters. Yuuri was not the most sociable person, always avoiding the students from his classes and even his rink mates. His coach Celestino had been trying to get him to go out with the other skaters or even do some pair skate practices. But Yuuri just obeyed the best he could, tried to hide his displeasure and left the rink as soon as he could at the end of every training session.

Now he was going to share his room with another person. What if he was too bold just like that creepy dude from Switzerland he met last month? Well… he could always ask for a room change but that would be kind of rude for his new roommate… Anyways, no use getting worried so soon. Maybe this new guy is someone shy and quiet just like him, that would be so nice…

* * *

For a whole week Yuuri had been cleaning the room, hiding away any evidence of his skating posters and souvenirs (especially those of Victor) and trying to get the place as comfortable as possible. The next Sunday he had been so nervous all day, but since the student hadn't arrived yet, he just simply relaxed trying to do some English homework. Just before he took a break for dinner, someone knocked on the door. Yuuri got up so suddenly he thought he pulled a muscle and stumbled towards the door to finally meet his new roommate.

"Welcome!" Yuuri almost screamed, scared and tense, with his thick accent and blushed cheeks. Great, he was making a fool of himself in 0.5 sec.

"Thank you" replied a young voice. In front of Yuuri was a teenager; skinny, short and with the biggest and brightest eyes he had ever seen. He seemed as anxious as Yuuri, holding his suitcase handle so hard that his knuckles were white.

"Please, come in…" said Yuuri, walking inside the room to show him the empty bed. "You can sleep here… If you don't like this side, we can change beds, I wouldn't mind…" he didn't know his roommate was this young! How he was supposed to get along with him? He had learnt that just his country had that senpai-kohai dynamics (and he never was someone's senpai back in Hasetsu)… What if this kid was too immature?

"Thank you again…" said the boy, leaving his suitcase on the bed. "My name is Phichit!" He said with a little more confidence while offering his hand. There was an awkward moment when neither of them knew if this was a correct greeting until Yuuri slowly grabbed his hand and shook it.

"Nice to meet you, Phichit; my name is Yuuri and I really hope we can get along. Please tell me if you need anything; I'll be pleased to help you"

"Are you allergic to pets?" That first questions took Yuuri by surprise, but he just thought Phichit wanted to make a conversation as soon as possible.

"Hum… no. Actually I have a dog back in Japan in my parents' house… Do you have pets?"

"Yes, yes! I have a couple of hamsters, they are so cute! I could show you pictures but I need to charge my phone first" Phichit opened his suitcase and started to search for his charger.

"I was going to get dinner just before you arrived, do you want to come with me?" asked Yuuri, maybe he could show Phichit the neighborhood.

"Oh! No, thank you! I had like 3 meals during the flight and I'm too tired, thank you so much. I just want to send some messages to my parents, unpack a little and go to sleep. Go and have fun, maybe tomorrow we can get breakfast together!" the kid was cheerful but not too pushy; it was hard to know if they were going to get along but it was a nice start. For a moment Yuuri had the feeling that Phichit was a little too eager to be left alone in the room but maybe it was just his imagination.

"Ok, I'll be back in a couple of hours. Feel free to take anything you need. Oh! And the bathroom is there!" he pointed towards a door at the corner of the room. "There's a small closet there, you can use the empty shelves" Phichit nodded and said goodbye, too busy looking for his charger. Yuuri didn't want to be rude and leave alone his roommate so soon, but neither he wanted to be in the room, asking polite but meaningless questions or letting the place be filled with awkward silence. Better leave for now, he was going to have enough time to get to know the boy.

Yuuri went to his favorite coffee bar and tried to read a book, but was too distracted thinking about Phichit. He was still unsure of how to befriend him, or at least get along with him. He didn't know how long he was going to share the room with the teenager. When he moved to Detroit from Japan he was 18, but Phichit seemed to be 15 or 16 years old… And what would happen when they compete against each other? Was Celestino going to be his coach too? Yuuri groaned and slammed his forehead against the table, almost bumping his head against his tea cup. It was just too much. Maybe he should call Minako and ask her for advice.

* * *

It wasn't too late when Yuuri returned to his room, but the lights were already off and Phichit seemed to be asleep. He used his phone lamp to go to the bathroom and change into his pajamas without turning on the lights and waking up the teenager. He was brushing his teeth when he suddenly saw something moving behind the shower curtain. Yuuri froze in his place. What the hell was that? Phichit was asleep in his bed and the bathroom window was closed. Maybe a spider? Yuuri hoped that wouldn't be the case, he wasn't afraid of spiders but he didn't like them either. Killing it or getting it outside the room was going to be a challenge. Yuuri rinsed his mouth and went to the shower to draw the curtains, and just in that moment something round, gray and fluffy ran between his feet into the room. Yuuri had never shrieked so loud in his life.

Yuuri went into the room and this time he turned the lights on. There was a rat in there and he had to catch it or kill it.

"I'm so sorry to wake you up Phichit, but I think there's a rodent in the room…" Phichit seemed lost for a moment, still tired and sleepy but suddenly his eyes opened like saucers and his face went pale.

"Oh! No, no, no, no! Please Yuuri, stop!" the kid was on his feet in an instant and grabbed Yuuri's wrist before he reached for a broom. "I can explain…" there was a knock in the door and both looked into each other's eyes before turning towards the door.

"Katsuki!" came a voice from the hallway, sure enough the guys in the next room heard his shout. "Everything's alright?" Yuuri looked at Phichit, who begged in silence. He was going to have to trust this kid and wait for his explanation. Yuuri sighed and patted his shoulder.

"Yes, everything is fine," Yuuri replied. "I just slipped in the shower; I'm sorry for waking you up, I'm unharmed" there was some muffled cursing and the sound of the guy leaving the hallway. Both Phichit and Yuuri sighed in relief.

"I'm so, so, so sorry!" Phichit bowed his head, but even then it was clear that he was sobbing. "I know I should have told you but I didn't want to bother you and I thought that I could keep them hidden for a while... It didn't occur to me that they would be stressed from the flight and would get out of their cage…"

"It's ok Phichit, I'm not mad, just… that thing scared me to death" his voice was soft, trying to comfort the kid. He was still not used to physical contact but the boy crying in front of him was maybe lonely and scared on his first night outside his country, his home. Slowly, he hugged him, although a little stiff at the beginning. "Everything is fine, let's find your little friend, he must be as scared as us…" Phichit nodded and rubbed his runny nose with the sleeve of his pajama.

"Do you mind sharing your room with me and my hamsters? I couldn't let them alone at home but if you don't like them… I guess I could look for an apartment or another dorm…"

"I don't really mind. As long as they don't run between my legs again" Yuuri laughed a little. "I miss my dog; I'd love to have him here with me but…"

"Don't be sad! My babies can be your pets too if you want!" offered Phichit. He had so many troubles just for getting his hamsters inside the country, a bigger animal could be twice as hard and Yuuri would need a bigger house. Phichit was lucky that his hamsters were tiny. Yuuri smiled and patted his head a little.

"I'd love to, but first we have to find them before they decide to take a stroll in the hallway"

They found the runaway hamster hidden under Yuuri's bed, while the other one was munching some sunflower seeds in his cage. Phichit had tried to disguise the cage behind the suitcase and under a blanket but now that Yuuri knew about his pets, they only had to make sure that nobody could see the cage from the door.

It was late night when they finally went to their beds after settling everything in the room. The place was quiet, save from the little noises of the hamsters running on their wheel. Yuuri was almost asleep when he heard some muffled laughter coming from Phichit's bed.

"Phichit… It's late, we better get some sleep; tomorrow you'll have to meet the coaches and the rinkmates" mumbled Yuuri.

"Sorry, sorry! It's just… You screamed like my grandmother when I first showed her my hamsters…" there was a moment of silence, when Yuuri didn't know how to react. But then, for maybe the first time in years, Yuuri burst into laughter, trying to conceal the sound under the blankets.

"Oh, shut up and go to sleep already!" Yuuri turned in his bed, facing the wall instead of Phichit's bed while still laughing. After a couple of minutes, both of them were quiet again, trying to fall asleep.

"Yuuri?"

"Hmm?"

"I'm glad to have you as my roommate… Thank you for everything" Yuuri couldn't help but smile. Maybe it wasn't going to be so difficult having a new roommate.

"I'm glad too, Phichit. Sweet dreams."

* * *

The next morning something round, gray and fluffy ran between Yuuri's feet and his scream could be heard even two floors down. Phichit was going to have a busy morning trying to fix that cage.

* * *

 **A/N:** Thank you so much for reading! I hope you enjoyed this story :)


End file.
